10 months ago
The biggest Slovak clay tennis tournament Bratislava Open 2024 will be held from June 10 to 16 on the TK Slovan courts. "The term is very lucrative. At that time, we are the second biggest challenger on clay in the world. The pressure on us is great - especially from countries like Italy, France or Germany. They are strong and they have many good players," says the director of the event, Branislav Stankovič.
The Bratislava challenger will take place in 2024 right after Roland Garros Grand Slam event in Paris, which ends on June 9. "This date has been booked for a long time as part of cooperation with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The term sheet cannot be changed so easily. Even in the past, we therefore had to keep up with the world and increase the prize money. I believe that even now excellent tennis players will find their way to the tournament," reveals the long-time director of Bratislava Open Stankovič.
The category of the event will not change, it will have the attribute Challenger 100, while the winner of the singles will once again claim 100 points to the ATP rankings. Both singles and doubles players will be awarded prizes of up to 127,000 euros. "Something will be reflected in the improved level of the so-called hospitality, which we need to improve. The budget of the event is close to 400,000 euros. It's not easy to fulfill it," says the director.
Vitaliy Sachko (25) from Ukraine became the winner of the previous 20th anniversary clay tournament Bratislava Open 2023. In the singles final, he has defeated Bulgarian Dimitrov Kuzmanov (29) in three sets 2-6 6-2, 7-6(2). The Ukrainian tennis player scored 100 points in the ATP rankings for his triumph and he has won 16,020 euros before taxes. After the triumph, he moved up to his career high in the ATP rankings - 186th place. The first seeded Czech-Uruguayan couple Adam Pavlásek and Ariel Behar enjoyed the doubles triumph last year. In Saturday's final, they defeated the Austrian-German pair Neil Oberleitner - Tim Sandkaulen 6:4, 6:4.
So far, the other Slovak winner of the Bratislava Open singles is Norbert Gombos, who won the Bratislava final in 2019 over Attila Balázs from Hungary 6:3, 3:6, 6:2. In the 2018 season, Jozef Kovalík enjoyed the overall singles victory in Poprad.
10 months ago